An Heir
by Trunks Ichijouji
Summary: Paige is kidnapped for the sake of conceiving an heir for a demonic race. Can her sisters save her in time? Or something like that...*The big 1-0! And the End!*
1. A Dark Alley

A/N: This fanfic is set somewhere in the fourth season. Cole isn't and never was the Source. Piper is not pregnant. Umm. That's about it. ****  
  
"Oh, like this is smart." Paige commented, walking down the alley with her sisters. "What do you mean?" Piper asked, looking over at her little sister. "We're walking down a dark alley. at night. basically alone." "A little paranoid?" Piper smirked, "Let me guess, you are one who believes in Friday the thirteenth, lucky pins, necklaces, four leave clovers." metaphor "And you don't?" Paige asked back, Piper just shrugging. "Don't listen to Piper, I say you should." Phoebe chimed in, from the other side of Piper. "This coming from a person wearing socks and sandals." Piper observed Phoebe's footwear, smirking. "You can wear socks and sandals together. It's the new thing." "Right." Piper sarcastically remarked. A cold chill ran down Paige's back as something swished by her neck. "What was that?" Paige asked, looking around herself. "It's called hair. It tends to swipe across your neck as it sways. See what you did Phoebe? Now she's all paranoid." "Am not!" Paige tried to defend herself. Piper suddenly tripped when a glowing, gold bar from out of nowhere, wrapped itself around her ankles and yanked them together. Someone came up behind Paige, swiftly kick her feet from under her, causing her to fall onto her knees. Someone else came behind Phoebe and did the same thing. Threes more glowing, gold bars appeared, and slapped themselves onto their wrists. "What just happened?!?" Piper asked, as she wiggled into an upright position. A gust of wind flew by and there stood two men front of the three bound women, or what looked very much like a men. The one in front of the other had a slimming feature, the look of some in their mid-twenties. He had on a brown leather vest, not buttoned up so that you could see his well- detailed chest and a pair of black slacks, covering over where his feet were. His eyes were a tangy orange color and white hair, the kind of white you see in snow. The other man that stood behind him looked much older, with the same orange eyes but his hair was a light brown, bordering with blonde. The man in front slowly advanced towards the three of them. "Sorry for the interruption, but I'm looking for someone." He stated, pausing. "Heard of the phonebook?" Paige asked, obviously annoyed. He ignored Paige's comment and continued. "My name is Prince Link, of the Pavlin race, and I'm here to select someone to carry on my family line." "In other words, you want to sleep with someone, impregnate them, so that you can have a child?" Piper summarized, and Link nodded. "And this has what to do with us?" "I think that he wants that 'someone' to be one of us." Phoebe leaned over and whispered. "Oh, as lovely as that sounds. I don't think so." Piper went to get up, but two hands pushed her back down by her shoulders. Piper looked up to see a burly man standing behind her and Phoebe and another behind Paige. "That could be a problem." "Sire, we really must be going if you are to make it in an sufficient amount of time." The man from behind Link halfway whispered to him. "Doctrine, I'm just trying to explain things, so that she won't be so resistant towards me." "She?" Phoebe inquired. "Don't worry, it isn't you. I never had a thing for brunettes. I was referring to her." Link replied, nodding towards Paige. The two older sisters glanced down at their little sister. Doctrine, the man who was standing beside Link, walked up to Paige, put his hand about a foot from her face and a wavy, bluish gas emitted from them. "What are you doing to her?!?" Phoebe yelled at Doctrine. Paige head started to bob, looking dizzy and sleepy, and soon she just dropped to the floor, not moving. "It was only to make her go to sleep. We have a lot to do and she'll need her rest in the coming days." Link answered, going to stand beside Doctrine, who was in the process of picking Paige up. "I have no problems with you and she may be allow to return to you, but interfere and there will be." With that, Link and Doctrine winded (I just named it that because it look like a breeze of white wind sweeps by and such. It's like their shimmering) out of sight, Paige in hand. The two bodyguard men went with them and the gold bonds that had left Phoebe and Piper helpless disappeared with them. Piper quickly got up, giving Phoebe a hand, and turned around, surveying the alley. "Tell me that didn't just happen." Piper said, in disbelief that her sister was really gone.  
  
**** Paige awoke dazed and confused. She went to touch her forehead when her hand stopped, restricted by some constraint. She twisted her head to see her surroundings, seeing several women walking about. They all had plain, solid colored dresses on, reaching down to their feet. She could hear two distinct voices, not really able to identify from where she knew them. A women's face suddenly appeared in Paige's view, hovering about her face. "Ether, the girl is awake." A woman announced to someone, she presumed to be Ether. A woman, who looked in her early fifties, walked up to Paige. She lifted Paige's eyelid up, which Paige quickly shook her head away. "And so she is." Ether turned away, "Sire, she is awake." Link walked up to Paige with anticipation. "Hello sweetie." He greeted, running his palm along Paige's cheek. Paige flinched at his touch. "Don't worry, this won't take long."  
  
"Shall we begin sir?" Ether asked. "Yes." Link replied, removing his vest. He stretched his arms a little bit. Suddenly, wings shot out from his back, spanning a good few feet on either side of him and reaching but centimeters from the ground. "I hate keeping them pinned up like that." He rotated his shoulders, stretching out some more. The next thing Paige knew, someone was shoving a vial of something, thick as eggnog, down her throat. She bit by bit choked it down seeing as she had no choice. Ether handed Link a dagger. He lightly ran it across Paige's mid-torso, just enough pressure to cause her to bleed from the cut, causing her to groan in pain. He first watched it drip down her side slowly, then ran his tongue along the gash, basically licking her blood up. It stung, as if his saliva was made of acid, and Paige began to breathe in more deeply, too paralyzed this entire time to say anything. Her vision was beginning to blur as she fell back into a sleep. **** Paige awoke on a soft, queen size bed. As her eyes focused, she realized that this wasn't her room. She quickly pushed the covers off of her, jumped out of the bed, and snuck to the door entry of her room. Peering out, she saw Link and Doctrine discussing something at a distance, when a hand placed on her shoulder suddenly startled her. Paige turned around to see the woman from before; the one who had discovered Paige was first awake, standing there. "Are you alright?" She asked, wondering what Paige was doing. "Who are you?" Paige asked back. "My name is Natalie." "What? Where am I?" Paige asked, practically screaming. A mistake she later regretted when Link and Doctrine's attention was diverted to her. They took a brisk pace towards her. Paige backed up back into the room, eventually hitting the wall. "Stay away!" She shouted. "It's ok. You're in your royal room. Natalie is here only to help you." Link said with a gentle smile "Why? I-I-I." "You're here to give to conceive and bare his son. You should feel honored to help carry on this great line." Doctrine explained. "Honored? To be kidnapped and forced into having your child?!? I don't think so!" Natalie had gotten behind Paige, preventing her from going anywhere. As Doctrine moved closer Paige began to panic, when a voice came into her head telling her to "escape". Paige was now inhaling the bluish gas again, but before she fell unconscious she orbed out of the place. 


	2. Beach Hair

"She's somewhere on this beach, I can sense her." Leo said; as he slammed shut the car door.

"OK, We'll just split up and cover more ground. Phoebe you go down there," Piper pointed to the right, "Leo, scale the rocks and such, and I'll go this way. Yell when you find her." The three of them went their separate ways. They spent a third of an hour looking for her, losing hope every minute. Every time they thought they saw her, it turned out to be some object washed up from the sea. Drenched throughout her clothes, Phoebe was ready to turn around and look elsewhere when she thought she saw something, and it was moving. She took off running and going very fast, considering that it was a sand filled beach and it was raining.

"Paige!" She yelled out, and kept running towards the spot. She stopped besides Paige's body on the sand and kneeled down beside her. Her shirt was torn down the middle, and there was somewhat deep cut running across her stomach. She was soaked from the rain. "Paige…" She shook her lightly but got no response. "Piper! Leo! Leo!" Leo orbed in besides Phoebe. He took one look at Paige and immediately started to heal her. The wound disappeared, but it took a little while for Paige to fully open her eyes. Phoebe helped the dazed Paige up to her feet; She began to lean all her weight now onto Leo as he helped.

"I'll orb you two back to the car, and go find Piper." Phoebe grabbed a hold of Leo's arm, and they orbed back. He helped Paige into the back seat and Phoebe waited in the back with her as Leo went to get Piper. Phoebe laid Paige's head in her lap as she covered her with a thick, warm blanket. When Leo returned with Piper, they drove back to manor.

****

"You sure you're okay?" Piper asked, setting the umbrella by the door. Paige was still rubbing her head.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm simply tired. I'm just going to go to my room and sleep, and by tomorrow, I'll be myself again."

"Joy." Phoebe smirked, leaning on Piper's shoulder.

"I heard that!" Paige yelled back, walking right past the stairs.

"Paige, I thought you were going to your room to sleep."

"Yeah, I am. Where else would I go?"

"You just past the stairs." Piper pointed out. Paige turned around to see the stairs a good ten feet away from where she was standing.

"Man, I'm tired." Paige said, heading back to the stairs.

"Come on, you're obviously really tired." Piper walked up, took Paige's hand, and led her up stairs to her room, Phoebe following the both of them. "I suggest you change out of your clothes if you don't want to catch a cold."

"Thanks _mom_." Paige replied sarcastically, weakly smiling at Piper. She walked into her room to change but instead she began to get into her bed. Piper saw her and quickly walked in before she could fully get into bed.

"Oh, no, no, no. You're soaking wet, your hair's going to be a mess, and you need to change your clothes." Piper explained, pulling Paige back up. Phoebe placed a chair in the middle of her room, and Piper sat Paige down in it. "Just hold on, I'm going to get some towels." Piper left the room.

"Arms up." Phoebe commanded. Paige sluggishly complied and Phoebe took off her damp shirt. Piper returned with the towels, and began rubbing Paige's hair dry.

"Ow, you're rubbing a bit hard." Paige complained to Piper.

"It's the way Prue did it for me." Piper replied.

"And Piper did for me." Phoebe chimed in, from inside Paige's closet.

"And the way we'll do it for you." Piper smiled. Phoebe found a pair of cheerleader type shorts and a huge, oversized D.A.R.E. shirt in Paige's closet, and dropped them in Paige's lap. "You know what, I'm just going to use the blow dryer instead." Piper left in search for the dryer. Paige proceeded to put on the shirt Phoebe gave her as Phoebe tugged off her pants.

"Phoebe! Where's the hair dryer?!" Piper yelled from the bathroom.

"On the counter as usual!" Phoebe yelled back.

"No it's not!" Phoebe sighed, and headed to the bathroom to help Piper. Paige saw this as an opportunity and jumped into her bed the moment Phoebe left. She called for wherever the dryer was and hid it under her bed. Phoebe and Piper returned three minutes later, giving up.

"I guess…" Piper stopped, looking at her sleeping baby sister. "She must be really tired."

"At least she's safe and back with us." Phoebe said, leaning her head on Piper's shoulder.

"Yeah, but when her smells like the beach, she'll regret this." Phoebe smiled, as Piper shut the door to Paige's room.

****

            Phoebe shuffled down the hall to the bathroom. Her hair a mess from sleeping and her eyes were half open. She was going in early to the newspaper in order that she could leave early. Just as she reached for the handle of the door, Paige cut in front of her, and slammed the door shut. 

"Paige! I need to get ready! And today is not day for me to have a cold shower!" Phoebe yelled into the bathroom. A retching noise emitted through the door. "Paige, you ok?" Phoebe asked, getting a little concerned. She slowly opened the door to see Paige bent over the toilet, vomiting. Phoebe held back Paige's hair as she averted her eyes from the sight. She rubbed Paige's back with her free hand. After five minutes, Paige had finished, and Phoebe helped her up. Paige rinsed her mouth out of the taste. "You ok now?"

"I think…  I was just sitting on my bed when I suddenly had an urge to vomit."

"Uh huh… you might be coming down with something." Phoebe commented, placing her hand on her forehead. "Come on, you can't have medicine on an empty stomach." Phoebe looked at the toilet. "A very empty stomach."

"I'm going to take a shower first. I have sand still in my hair and stuff and I just feel, ew."

"Ok, I'll see you downstairs then." Phoebe said, shutting the bathroom door. Paige took her shower, got dressed, and brushed her teeth before going downstairs. Piper was already done with her breakfast and Phoebe was almost through with her. Paige plopped down in a seat. Piper got up and felt her forehead.

"You don't feel warm."

"That's because I'm ok." Paige said, receiving a skeptic look from Piper. "Well, I don't feel bad. Maybe it was something I ate."

"When's the last time you ate?"

"I don't remember…" Paige shrugged.

"Wait…" Phoebe said, looking at Paige's clothes, "You plan on working today?"

"Umm, yeah. It is Thursday, a day which I tend to work on."

"But you're sick."

"Am not and besides, what would I do around here all day?"

"I have some straws that need to counted for inventory at P3." Piper offered.

"I'm going to work…" Paige said, getting up to leave.

"Not going to eat?"

"I'll pick something up along the way. I'm running late."

"Oh but Paige…" Piper stopped mid sentence at hearing the door slam shut. Her and Phoebe exchanged worried looks.

****

"Sire, what do we do now? Shall we go after her?" Doctrine asked.

"No… let her come back to us first." Link replied, starring out his window.

"What if she doesn't? What if she stays with and gives bir--?"

"She won't last that long." Link interrupted, turned around and gave Doctrine a look that told him to leave. Doctrine left the room as Link turned back to the window. "They always come back…"


	3. Strawberry Ice Cream

            The backdoor swung open as a tired Paige stepped in. Piper, who was in the kitchen cleaning, looked at her confused. It was only three in the afternoon and Paige was already home, and after her being so adamant to going to work. Paige gave a heavy sigh, indicating there was something wrong with her, and sat down on a barstool, resting her head in her hand.

"What are you doing home so early?" Piper investigated.

"Mr. Cowan told me to go home because I didn't look well. He said that I've been more responsible lately that if I were sick, I should take off; I earned it."

"And you're complaining? I remember when I'd die for a day off." Paige just shrugged. "How do you feel anyway?"

"I've been getting this headache and some cramps."

"Uh huh… I told you should've stayed home this morning."

"But I was fine this morning, how could you have known?"

"My dear Paige," Piper said, putting her arm around Paige, "You will learn one day that as the wise, eldest sister, I just know these things."

"Sure... that must be it."

"Best way to beat a cold is sleep and plenty of fluids." Piper smiled. Just then, Leo orbed in with Phoebe.

"Next time your car breaks down, calling triple A would be easier." Leo commented.

"Yeah, but it was hot and it would've taken forever." Phoebe complained.

"I'm going to my room…" Paige halfway announced, leaving the kitchen.

"Sleep, no work!" Piper yelled after her.

"What she doing home?" Phoebe asked.

"Boss sent her home; said she looked sick."

****

"Paige?" Phoebe gently shook her shoulder. It was around six that evening, and Phoebe had heard her in the hall as she was discussing with Leo about Piper's upcoming birthday. They walked in to see Paige rocking back and forth.

"It hurts." Paige cried out.

"Paige, what's wrong?" Leo stepped forward, ready to heal.

"Leo, make it stop."

"What does? You have to tell me where." Leo looked at Paige, not knowing where she was talking about. Phoebe pulled back the cover off of Paige so they could get a better look. Paige was clutching her stomach tight.

"Is it your stomach Paige?" Phoebe asked, noticing Paige's current position. "Honey, you're going to have to move your hands." Phoebe lifted Paige's arms up to reveal her usually pale stomach was now a tint of red, as if it was irritated. Leo put his hands over it, not sure what it was he was healing. Nothing happened, his arms just hovered over her. Phoebe gave Leo a questioning look, wondering what was wrong.

"Paige, does it still hurt?" Paige nodded her head.

"Maybe you should go get some ice or something, because I can't heal her for some reason." Leo suggested. Phoebe got up and jogged down the stairs into the kitchen. Piper was making dinner, no idea on how Paige feels.

"Whoa, what's the rush?" Piper asked, tasting some of her own cooking.

"Paige is up, but her stomach is all red and she says it hurts." Phoebe replied quickly, grabbing an ice pack out of the freezer.

"Oh, oh!" Piper quickly sat the spoon down and ran up after Phoebe, back to Paige's room. Phoebe handed Leo the ice pack and he placed it on Paige's stomach. She flinched a little at the coldness, but relaxed in time.

"Leo…" Piper said, nodding for him to come with her. Leo handed Phoebe the ice pack and met Piper just outside the door. "What's wrong? Can't you heal her?"

"I don't know. I'll go check with the elders." Leo stated, orbing away. Piper went back inside the room.

"Here?" Phoebe poked Paige's side. Paige nodded and Phoebe placed the ice on that side.

"Hey, how you feeling?" Piper asked, pulling strands of Paige's hair out of her face.

"Cold…"

"Well honey, you do have an icepack against your side." Piper pointed out.

"It's not that… I can feel the pain going away, but I'm just cold."

"Ok…" Piper just nodded, looking at Phoebe to see if she understood that. Phoebe shrugged back, moving the ice pack in a circular pattern around on Paige's stomach.

"Paige, what exactly happened when you were with, umm, whatever his name is?" Phoebe asked, wondering if there was some connection.

"All I remember is waking up and being forced to drink something."

"Something? Like a potion?"

"I guess so. And then he umm, ran this knife across my stomach, and licked my uh… blood."

"Eww…" Piper and Phoebe both said.

"That explains the cut Leo healed when we found you on the beach." Phoebe commented.

"Yeah… I had woken up in this room and… but I don't really remember anything else after that, I just was trying to get away." Paige began to sniffle a little.

"Its ok now, sweetie. Just get some sleep." Piper said, kissing her forehead.

"Yeah." Phoebe agreed, pulling the covers back up.

"Thanks guys." Paige smiled. The two older sisters walked to the door, waiting for their baby sister to close her eyes. After rolling around a little, Paige settled into a comfortable position, and fell back asleep. Phoebe shut the door quietly right when Leo orbed in front of them.

"Hey." Leo greeted casually. "Is she…?"

"Yeah." Phoebe replied.

"Oh, ok. I talked to The Elders and they said that I couldn't heal Paige because she isn't hurt."

"She isn't hurt?" Piper repeated, dumbfounded by the explanation. "Her stomach is completely red, but she wasn't exactly out in the sunshine, tanning. And the pain she complains of, is imaginary?" Piper asked, with a hint of sarcasm.

"No, they're not saying that. It's like if you had a headache. I can't heal that; it's like, a natural thing. You weren't hurt to receive that headache, but sure, it hurts."

"So, they're saying that whatever Paige is going through, whatever is causing her that pain, is 'natural'?" Phoebe asked with quotation fingers, receiving a nod from Leo. "No offense to the almighty Elders, but whatever is happening to her doesn't look natural to me."

"Nope, looks more like supernatural to me too." Piper added in, looking at Leo.

"Fine, don't believe me." Leo said, sarcasm matching Piper's.

"We didn't say that…" Piper sighed. "I say we go let her sleep the night, and if she feels worse, we'll take her to the doctor since it's not supernatural."

"Ok…" Phoebe agreed.

"Now, dinner will be ready in a few minutes. You guys eating?"

"Yep."

"Unless I'm called away, yes." Leo said.

"Good…" Piper walked back to the kitchen, as Phoebe and Leo continued to talk about the surprise party.

****

"Piper?" Phoebe rubbed her sleeping sister's shoulder. Piper batted away Phoebe's hand and mumbled something. "Piper, come on. Wake up. Where's Paige?" At the last question Piper jumped up.

"Wha… Paige!" Piper yelled out, ran to Paige's room, and looked at the empty bed, sheets all tossed about. Her and Phoebe jogged out of the room, and down the stairs to search the first floor. Piper went through the kitchen and the living room. Phoebe had come back from the conservatory after looking out the window to see Paige's car still in the driveway. A door open and shut just as Phoebe looked up with a glint of hope, but only to see Leo lazily walking to the bathroom.

"Leo, Paige is…"

"Shhh… Bathroom." Leo cut Phoebe off, shutting the door behind him.

"Who was that?" Piper said, running to where Phoebe was standing.

"Leo, going into the bathroom."

"Oh, did you tell him about Paige?"

"I tried, but he cut…"

"AHHH!" Leo yelled as he tumbled out the bathroom. Phoebe and Piper looked at each confused and walked up to see a startled Leo. "Sicko!" Leo yelled into the bathroom. Piper looked inside the bathroom to see a dazed Paige on the floor.

"Oh my gosh." Piper said, helping her sister off the floor. "Paige, what are you doing in the bathroom?"

"Umm…" Paige began to explain, looking around, with a look of astonishment that she was in the bathroom herself. "Oh yeah, I was throwing up last night and I didn't want to keep going back and forth to the bathroom, so decided to wait in the bathroom a while. I guess I fell asleep. Next thing I know, I wake up to see Leo's umm… well, Leo was standing there."

"Why didn't you wake me?"

"Didn't want to bother you…"

"There's no way helping my baby sister would bother me." Piper said, smiling at Paige.

"What? You told me I was a pest last time I was sick!" Phoebe exclaimed.

"Well, Paige has at least twenty five years worth of excuses left. Yours are gone by now." Piper smirked.

"People! I still have to go to the bathroom." Leo said impatiently. "Alone…" They started to head out.

"Geez, keep your underwear up." Phoebe commented, stifling a laugh. "Seriously, it's still a little out." Leo slammed the door behind the three sisters.

"So, hungry?" Piper asked, them heading downstairs. "No pun intended."

"Starving…" Paige said.

"Yeah, me too." Phoebe agreed, entering the kitchen. Piper opened the fridge and freezer at the same time. Paige sat on a bar stool as Phoebe put on some coffee. "What are you guys in the mood for?"

"Don't know." Phoebe shrugged, pulling up a stool next to Paige.

"Ice cream…" Paige said strangely. Phoebe and Piper glanced at Paige.

"Ice cream? For… breakfast?" Piper asked, not accustomed to the idea.

"Yeah… I don't know. You asked what we were in the mood for."

"Ok… well, I'm going to have a breakfast bagel. What kind of ice cream?"

"Chocolate swirl."

"And for you Pheebs?" Piper asked, digging out the ice cream from the back of the freezer.

"Do we have strawberry ice cream?"

"Uh… no, we don't usually have strawberry."

"Well then, I'll take a bagel too."


	4. La Boum

            Paige was convinced to call in sick that day and her sisters were cautious not to leave Paige alone in the manor. Phoebe went to her job in morning, finished the column by two and came back home, to let Piper run to the club to make sure everything was ok. When Piper returned home at ten, Paige was upside down on her head, watching "Kill it before it Dies", with Phoebe three feet from the screen. Piper put down the grocery bag she had in her hand, and starred at her two sisters.

"It's this all you guys did while I was gone?" Piper asked, sitting on the couch. "Watch this movie over and over? Because that was on when I left."

"Nooo…" Phoebe said, stretching out the word unknowingly.

"Yeah, we watched Emperor's New Groove when this one first ended. And then…" Paige said, losing her balance and falling onto her stomach. Piper smiled at her sister's goofy-ness.

"Phoebe, don't sit so close. There's a reason why you have glasses." Piper nagged.

"Fine…" Phoebe scooted back a foot and continued watching the movie.

"I got some strawberry ice cream."

"Ok…" Phoebe had been warped back into the TV.

"Pheebs, Billy is on the phone for you." Piper lied, seeing if anything would pull her back to reality.

"Could you tell him to hold for twenty minutes?" Phoebe mumbled.

"She's long gone…" Piper sighed, "How have you been feeling?" Piper asked, turning her attention to Paige.

"Ok I guess." Paige flipped back onto her head.

"And your stomach?"

"I only felt really awful once today."

"Good."

"Now, it's this headache."

"I wonder why… maybe it's because you're upside down."

"Maybe…"

"Oooh, getting a little pudgy I see." Piper teased, poking Paige's belly.

"Am not." Paige said, trying to swat away Piper's hand but fell over again instead. "So, where are we going tonight?"

"We're not going any where. We still don't know what's wrong with you."

"But I'm fine."

"Huh? Why does that sound familiar? Oh yeah, last time you said that, a few hours later you were trying to suck our blood."

"Just throw that back in my face."

"Anytime…"

"I'm going to bed." Paige stated flatly. She got up and went to her room. Piper could tell that she was kind of disappointed. Piper didn't mean to be the mean mom person who said no, forcing her to stay home. Piper got up and went to Paige's room to smooth things out. She gently knocked on the door.

"Paige?" A faint yes was whisper from inside, "Can I come in?" Piper asked, slowly opening the door. Paige was sitting on her bed, Indian style, starring out the window. "Hey…"

"Hey…" Paige said, turning her head for a second toward Piper.

"I just wanted to say that I know you wanted to go out and that I'm sorry that you can't. We just think that it's too big of a risk if something were to happen to you."

"I know…" Paige replied solemnly. Piper knew that it didn't matter and she had to do something to make up for it.

"I got it, me, you and Phoebe can all hang out and play Monopoly or something. It'll be fun and give else a chance to hang out doing something else that doesn't involve demons." Piper offered, hoping Paige would accept.

"That's ok… I'm just going to get an early night. Thanks anyway." Paige replied, lying down on her bed.

"Oh, ok…" Piper answered, walking back out of the room. " Good night."

"'Night…" Piper walked back downstairs to see Phoebe just getting up from the TV that was displaying the end rolling credits.

"Where's Paige?" Phoebe asked.

"Upstairs… still kind of mad." Piper sighed frustrated.

"Oh… I hope she doesn't think were like, the wicked stepsisters."

"I know…"

            Of course, Paige, being the kind of person she is, wasn't really asleep. She had been waiting for Piper to leave and sprung out of bed towards her closet. She picked out a long, red skirt with Chinese symbols all over it and a white silk shirt to match. She stuffed her bed sheets with her comforter just in case they went to check up on her and quietly orbed out.

****

            Paige had arrived at La Boum, a new French club. She had no trouble getting in and had been there for approximately two hours now. Hooking up with a guy, Chris, almost ten minutes after she got in. Already gone through the basic stuff of, "what's your name? How old are you? What do you do?" kind of questions, they were just sitting at the bar getting a drink (not actually meaning an alcoholic beverage).

"Ready to dance again?" Paige smiled.

"Yeah. You're pretty peppy for it being one in the morning." Chris commented, walking back out to the dance floor.

"I didn't do much today, so I have plenty of energy." They began to dance to the music. The DJ was playing a fast, upbeat techno song. Paige began to slow down and swagger a little. She shook her head and began to massage her forehead.

"Whoa, you don't look to well." Chris commented. Paige tried to focus on something in the room but her vision was just becoming blurrier and distorted. Before she knew it, she blacked out. Chris caught her in his arms and ordered for someone to call 911.


	5. I just want to go home

            Phoebe and Piper rushed into the hospital room to see their sister lying on the bed. A nurse was checking her pulse and scribbling down some things. They just looked at her sleep, unharmed.

"Is she ok?" Piper asked, looking at the nurse. They had only received a phone call form a personnel at the hospital telling them Paige was there.

"I couldn't say, but Doctor Front will be in…" the nurse stopped talking when a man in his late twenties walked in, with short brown hair, spiked up, "And here he is." The nurse finished, handing the clipboard to him and left the room.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Front." He extended his hand to Phoebe first and then onto Piper.

"How is she?" Piper asked.

"She should be fine, just over exhausted." He answered, looking at her chart. Paige started to wake up, blocking her eyes from the lights.

"Paige, sweetie." Phoebe said, touching her cheek.

"Mmm… Phoebe, where am I?" Paige asked, sitting up.

"The hospital."

"Oh…" Paige said, trying to figure out why she was there.

"What were you thinking?" Piper asked, peeved at her sister's defiance.

"Thinking? About what?" Paige was incredibly clueless.

"Hmm… 'I'll just go to sleep early.' And then couple hours later, we receive a phone call saying you're in a hospital."

"I was bored sitting in the house all day. I'm not twelve you know."

"Excuse me Miss Halliwell, but what have you been taking for the headaches and your pain?"

"You guys already told him?" Paige asked, surprised.

"Told me?" Front asked, just as Piper was shaking her head.

"She's been kind of sick lately."

"Well, those are all side effects of the pregnancy."

"What?!?" The three sisters questioned in unison.

"Me? Pregnant?" Paige asked, her breathing increasing.

"Yes… didn't you know? You're at least two months pregnant. You haven't noticed any increase in headaches, mood swings, weight gain, cravings…?"

"I can't be pregnant… it's not possible." Paige said, still flabbergasted.

"Well, using protection doesn't guarantee you won't become pregnant." Paige sent a killer death stare straight through Front's forehead. Him giving a speech on protection was not was she was in the mood for. "Umm… you should set up an appointment with an optometrist as soon as possible. Read all medical labels if you have to take something, and stay away from alcoholic beverages and drugs." He paused briefly, "I'll just leave you three alone." Dr. Front almost ran out of there.

"I take every step… how…." Paige said, beginning to panic.

"It's ok, things like this happen and it can happen to anyone." Phoebe began, rubbing Paige's back, "but you have us."

"It's ok? I'm pregnant Phoebe! Me! Pregnant! I can't even be on time to work."

"How is this possible? I-I can't be pregnant."

"Well, occasionally, the condom can break and then the little guys get…"

"No! I don't mean it like that. I haven't had sex since Glenn went back to Australia."

"You think Glenn's the father?"

"No! Glenn left five months ago. This baby is two months old, it doesn't make sense."

"And you're sure you haven't gone out with any guy since then?" Piper asked, hoping it was more of a memory lapse than supernatural.

"It's not the kind of thing you forget Piper."

"Maybe she's not pregnant, and he made a mistake." Phoebe suggested.

"Not likely… she's been showing a lot of the signs he described. The sudden craving for ice cream, more frequent headaches, vomiting, mood swings…"

"I have not been having mood swings!" Paige said frustrated. "And I can't be pregnant! It doesn't add up!"

"Wait… Piper you don't think that…" Phoebe said, trailing off. Piper's look of her face showed you knew what Phoebe was inferring to. Her jaw dropped as she looked at Paige and then to her stomach.

"No… that was only two days ago."

"But he had said she'd be back in a couple days. Maybe that's how long it takes. It'll explain a lot."

"What would explain a lot?" Paige asked, not really catching onto anything.

"Link… and you conceiving his heir."

"But I didn't sleep with him."

"He's not human. Maybe you don't have to in order to create a child."

"Are you saying I'm pregnant with some… thing?" Paige touched her stomach, fearing what might be within it.

"Not exactly… we can ask if he's sure…"

"It's fine; I only want to go home."

"Paige, we want to make sure you're ok. You haven't been feeling well for a while." Phoebe said, holding Paige's hand.

"I know… I just want to go home. I don't want to stay here anymore."

"Fine, but only if Dr. Front say you can. And we're making the next appointment they have available at optometrist." Piper compromised with her sister.

"Okay." Paige agreed silently; she was secretly scared of what the ultrasound might have revealed.

****

            Paige went quietly to her room and lied down to be alone but Piper and Phoebe both noticed her. They crept up to her room and peered into the door. Paige had already changed and was lying on top on the covers. She had curled herself up in a crocheted blanket, starring out the window into the black sky. She looked incredibly lonely and depressed. A large sigh emitted from her as she placed her head on her knee. Phoebe, returning back to her attitude when she was the youngest sister, ran in and began to jump up and down upon her bed. Paige eventually couldn't help but smile at her sister's antics.

"What are you doing?" Paige asked, holding back a laugh.

"Phoebe, stop jumping on the bed; you'll mess up the box spring." Piper said, walking in and sitting on the bed.

"No fun Piper, you're just no fun." Phoebe said as she retired to the corner of the bed. Piper stuck her tongue at Phoebe in reply. "So, we were wondering what the real reasons were that you didn't want to stay." Paige's eyes dropped down to the little pudge that was her stomach.

"I just don't like hospitals…" Paige replied, receiving a look both her sisters, knowing that they knew that was all.

"And…" Piper pushed on.

"I… umm…"

"Was worried that you could be pregnant?" Piper finished the statement.

"More liked scared." Paige corrected, "Being pregnant is one thing, but demonically pregnant is another. I didn't want to see some evil fetus floating in me."

"It would've helped to explain what's wrong with you."

"I know… I'm sorry; I should have done it when I was still at the hospital."

"It's ok… you just get to go to see someone who specializes in babies instead; a better deal." Phoebe smiled.

"And we'll be there to make sure everything is fine." Piper chipped in.

"Yeah… sure." Paige agreed half-heartedly as Piper pulled her into a hug, Phoebe joining in to. Paige was still thinking about the possibility of the baby. She had a feeling that it really did exist, and she knew that no matter what her sister's did, it'd still have been within her. She muttered thanks when the hug broke, and uneasily fell to sleep when her sister's left.


	6. Silent Whispers

            Paige shuffled down into the kitchen. It was empty, so she sat down and poured herself some cereal. She quietly chewed her Fruit Loops, starring absentmindedly out the window. It was sunny considering it was noon and everyone was about the manor somewhere. Her eyes wondered across the newspaper's front page. Nothing great had happened and she turned to the inside covers.

"_Paige..._" Paige looked up to find the owner of the voice. No one was there; just her alone in the kitchen. She went back to the paper. "_Paige... why don't you come back?_" Paige was now sure she heard someone or something and slowly rose up from her seat. "_Don't be scared._" Paige recognized the voice to be Prince Links'. As she was backing out of the kitchen, she bumped into someone, and jumped as she turned around.

"Paige, are you okay?" Phoebe asked, holding a box of junk.

"Umm, yeah. You just scared me…" Paige explained, and walked to her room shaking her head.

****

            Natalie approached Link, who sat on a throne facing away from her. He was discussing something with Doctrine when, Doctrine made her appearance known to him. He pivoted the chair around to face her.

"Yes?"

"I came to inform you that it's becoming late for that woman. She'll soon go into labor and then it'll be too late for us to get to her. I believe something needs to be done to insure that she's back here before long."

"I know, and I'm in the process of doing so. Prepare for her to be back tomorrow." Link ordered. Natalie did not desire to know the details, so she bowed out and left the room.

"Sire, perhaps the sooner the better that we get her. Tomorrow will be behind schedule."

"I'm aware of that, but it'll have to do."

****

            Phoebe knocked lightly on Paige's door, and peered into it when there was no response. Paige was still asleep on her side, covers tightly wrapped around. She had spent previous day helping Phoebe clean out her room and watching a movie marathon till three the next morning. Phoebe quietly walked in, signaling for Cole to follow with the tray of food he was carrying. She opened up the blinds and let the light pour in. The sun's bright rays hit Paige's eyes and Paige raised her hand to block them off with no luck.

"Hey sleepyhead." Phoebe greeted Paige. She sat down on her bed and felt Paige's forehead.

"Hey…"

"You're burning up; how can you be wrapped up in so many blankets?"

"I don't feel hot, I'm freezing actually." Paige responded. She looked over her shoulder when she heard Cole placing the food on her nightstand. "Oh, hey Cole. Haven't seen you lately."

"Yeah, shimmering around a little." Cole said.

"Here…" Phoebe gave Paige a thermometer, "put it in your mouth."

"That's a concept… putting it my mouth… hmm…" Paige smirked. Phoebe playfully hit Paige as she inserted it into her mouth. Phoebe watched as it rose past the normal range of temperatures and into the hundreds. It finally stopped at 104.3 and she removed it from her mouth.

"Whoa… this is not healthy." Phoebe said, with a hint of worry in her voice.

"I feel fine, heat wise. And it's only umm… six degrees over."

"Yeah, and that just shows you how bad you're getting. If you can't even tell you're terribly overheated, that's bad."

"Phoebe!" Piper yelled from her room.

"Yeah?"

"Could you come here a minute?"

"Ok…" Phoebe left the room, leaving Paige and Cole.

"So…" Cole started, breaking the silence.

"Why is it that we never talk? I mean, I don't really even know that much about you."

"Umm…" Cole paused, not really expecting that question. He searched his brain for a liable reason. "I don't know. There's just never been much time, I guess."

"So…" Paige try to think of a suitable topic, "How's the law system working out?"

"Ok, I guess, plenty of paperwork."

"Uh huh…"

            Paige rolled her head to the other side of her pillow. She gasped when she saw Prince Link, sitting in her rocking chair, smiling at her. She froze with fear as he rose from the chair and stepped towards her.

"Paige, come with me. It'll be easier than staying here."

Paige glanced at Cole to see him still talking about his past life, totally unaware of the presence of Link in the room. She began to push the covers off herself slowly.

"W-what do you want? How did you get here?" Paige asked Link; Cole stopped talking and looked at Paige. He had no clue why she would ask that.

"I've been here." Cole answered, hoping he misunderstood her question. Paige looked at Cole but her attention snapped back to Link who was approaching her.

_"What's wrong?"_

He sat down at the edge of the bed, which scared Paige. She backed up from him so suddenly that she had fallen out of the bed. Cole quickly helped the fallen Paige off the floor. She looked to the closest thing to her, which was a half a glass of water, and threw it at Link. It passed through him, and slammed against the wall, shattering to pieces.

"Paige, are you ok?" Cole asked, slowly moving towards Paige. He followed her cold stare to the edge of her bed, seeing nothing but ruffled bed sheets.

"I'm not going with you!" Paige yelled at Link.

"Phoebe, Piper!" Cole yelled out the room, keeping an eye on Paige. She was sounding a little too crazy for his taste. Phoebe and Piper came running into the room with Leo behind them. The tone in Cole's voice told them had something was wrong.

"Cole, what's wrong?" Phoebe asked, not seeing the emergency.

"No! Go away!" Paige yelled back to the thin air. Their attention was then diverted to Paige; Piper was just surprised she was out of bed.

"Paige, who are you talking to?" Piper asked, worried that her sister was losing it.

"He's here. He wants me to go back with him. I don't want to go."

"Who's here?" Piper asked.

"Link…"

"There's no one here." Piper stated, glancing around the room.

"He's right there." Paige pointed to the bed again.

"Her temperature was way over a hundred. She could be hallucinating." Leo whispered to Piper.

            Link stepped over the bed and towards Paige, his hand outstretched to her. "Come on Paige, this isn't where you belong. You can be my princess. They don't understand you."

"No!" Paige yelled, quickly receding to the corner. She let her body slide down to the floor into a crouched position, and covered her ears. "Go away!" Phoebe slowly approached Paige, afraid of what might happen. She bent down at her level and touched her hand.

"Paige…" She said calmly, "Link isn't in here." Paige remained trembling, her head buried in her knees. "Paige, look at me." Paige shook her head no. "Paige… I want you to look at me." She slowly lifted her face to meet Phoebe's eyes full of concern. She looked over to the bed and Link had disappeared.

"I-I-I don't understand. He was just there and I saw him and…"

"It's ok, just take my hand." Paige gradually looked down at Phoebe's hand, tempted to take it. Suddenly, in the corner of her eye, Link had reappeared only a foot from her, his hand outstretched to her.

_"Come on Paige, this isn't where you belong. Take my hand instead. You'll be safe"_

            Paige screamed; and confused on what was going on, orbed out of the room. Phoebe looked back to the others, unsure of what had just happened. When they heard a crash downstairs and they rushed out of her room. A small coffee table was broken; Paige rolled off of it. She got on her hands and knees gradually. Her breathing became heavy and erratic, and her eyes were squeezed shut. Piper was going to help but Leo gave her a sign not to. Paige was changing, and he couldn't be sure if it was for the better or worse. Her shirt started to bulge in the back. She released a piercing scream as a pair of angel style wings transpired out of her back into plain view. Paige's vision started to blur as she tried to swagger up, but immediately dropped to floor. Link suddenly appeared in front of her, and checked her pulse. The others looked Link, shocked to see him there. He had appeared out of thin air from nowhere.

"It's a shame we couldn't do this peacefully." Piper tried to freeze him but it didn't work. He quickly scooped Paige into his arms. "I'm sorry we couldn't work something out." She dangled helplessly in his arms as he winded off before anyone could stop him.


	7. Two Stuck Pages

            A wet cloth slid across Paige's forehead in an attempt to cool her down. Her eyes fluttered open to a slightly familiar face. As she struggled to remember how she knew this woman, she became aware of how sore she felt and of the uncomfortable feeling coming from her back. The past events came flooding back into her mind; Link, the delusions, the wings… she realized what was it. The wings that had caused her to collapse in the first place were still there, sticking out her back as she lied there.

"How do you feel?" The women asked. Her voice was familiar too.

"Where am I?" Paige asked. As the woman's features came into focus, she recognized whom she was and where she was. It was Natalie, the women servant from before when she was originally capture by Link. She was back there again, in her "royal room". She looked to towards the foot of the bed, noticing her stomach had gotten bigger, much bigger. Paige tried to get up but her arms gave way under the weight.

"Whoa, I suggest you don't try to really move much." Natalie said as she caught her.

"But I…" Paige began but then, felt an acute pain. Natalie noticed this, and began to massage the base of Paige's wings.

"A little trick you pick up when you do this so much."

"Thanks…" Paige whispered as the pain began to decrease.

"Ladies!" Link's voice rung out boomingly as he entered the room. Paige turned her head to see him, and anger began to arise in her. "How is she?" Link asked Natalie, as if Paige wasn't there.

"Quite premature; I told you leaving her out there this long would not be good." Natalie answered him. He looked at Paige, receiving a glare back from her.

"Oh, don't be so mad. You've been chosen to have my child. If I were a human male, you'd be pregnant for almost an entire year."

"Oh, but instead I get to have your demonic child for only a week?!?" Paige questioned, sarcasm evident in her voice.

"Why must you put it so negatively?"

"Because it is a negative thing."

"Hmm…"

"Link, may I speak to you in private please?" Natalie requested.

"Sure…" Link made a kiss sound towards Paige and walked over to where Natalie was then standing.

"She's going to go into labor soon, and I'm not sure if you realize just how out of control these women can become."

"Yes, and…"

"With the child coming and her added powers, angering her right now might not be very wise."

"I'm not trying to anger her…"

"Yes, but she's not very fond of you at the moment. Maybe in time, but not now."

"Fine, I shall leave but I demand to be alerted the moment my son in born."

"Yes, sire." Link took one more look of Paige and left the room.

****

            Piper heavily sighed as the crystal kept rotating around the map of San Francisco. Phoebe had been reading up in the BOS to see what they could do to save Paige. Frustration was quickly arising among the two.

"Ah ha!" Phoebe yelled in success. "I found him, or at least the Pavlins. The pages had been stuck together. They are 'The Pavlin race's powers consist mainly on something mind oriented, much likely to have telepathic and telekinetic powers. Often peaceful, although known for kidnapping women to bare their children. Unlike humans, their pregnancies only last about a week. Many of the rumors on mortals being kidnapped by aliens and impregnated have originated through them.'"

"Great, so she is pregnant." Piper said, sounding more irritated. "How could we have not have seen this?"

"We can't go blaming ourselves, Piper. It's no one's fault; it's just another day in the Charmed lives."

"But she told us that he was right there.. R; right there in front of us and we just basically told her that she was crazy, but where is she now? Wait, we don't know!"

"Just because we don't know where she is, or if she's okay, or if she's scared…" Phoebe trailed off into silence as she began to think of all the possible things that might be going on. "You know what, that doesn't matter. She's ok and you have to believe that too."

"I know, and I do. Now that we know what were up against, we can go get our little sister."

****

Ether entered the room on alert that Paige had returned to the palace. She snorted when she saw Paige. She was never fond of her and knew of no viable reason why the Prince had chosen her in the first.

"Why he would choose a woman so pale and whiny I don't know. His entire family always makes the worst decision upon their mates." Ether complained. Paige was about to retort something back when Natalie put her hand on her shoulder, telling her to calm down.

"Why must you always be so negative about these women? Without them, none of them would exist."

"It's the only thing they're good for. I don't understand why they just couldn't mate within their own race instead of dirtying their blood."

"As if I were asked to do this!" Paige exploded.

"Oh shut up, women like you should be thankful to be apart of such a race."

"What?!?" Paige was becoming furious with this woman's viewpoint of her.

"Why he would ever choose such a persistent woman is beyond me. I say, if they don't want to do anything, leave them to their meaningless lives."

            Paige was tired of having this women talk about her as if she was worthless and didn't even deserve to exist. She yelled in frustration and Ether went flying into the wall. Paige felt a pain in her lower abdomen.

"What's happening? Did I do that?" Paige asked, confused on what just occurred.

"You're going into labor."

"Labor?" Paige asked, beginning to panic.

"This is not good." Natalie commented, more a thought to herself than to Paige.

"I'm going into demonic labor, and you think it's just 'not good'. Oh, this is far beyond 'not good'"

"Shh… don't get upset and just breathe." She glanced over to see Ether still on the ground, knocked out cold. "Give me a minute." Natalie said, heading towards the door. She poked her head outside to see a stewardess walking by in the plain dress that they all wore. She was carrying a tray of food and about to round the corner.

"Excuse me, you need to inform the maidens assigned to Prince Link's child that the woman is going into labor."

"Yes ma'am. I must bring this food to him now, anyway. Shall I inform him of this too?"

"Yes, but caution him against coming down."

"Yes ma'am." The girl walked off, as Natalie returned back to Paige's side. Paige's face was sullen; the reality of it all was sinking in. She was pregnant, and with a demonic child no less. Her sister's were nowhere to be found and she herself did not know where she was. She could not get her powers to help her to escape. She figured it had something to do with the baby she was carrying; it was somehow blocking her powers and replacing them with their own. She was becoming so lost in her own world of thoughts. After a while, she hadn't realize she was hyperventilating and the many nurses that were crowding around her, attempting to calm her down.


	8. Ghost?

"Argh!" Phoebe groaned. Another potion had blown up in her face.

"What?!?" Piper asked, running into the kitchen.

"I don't know why, but this stupid potion keeps blowing up."

"Oh…" Piper thought as she picked of the vial of salt. She tapped some of the salt into her hand, and tasted it.

"Ew… why would you do that?"

"I thought so… I had replaced the salt with sugar to mess with…" Piper sighed, "with Paige, who isn't here. I guess I forgot to switch them back."

"It's ok… You'll get her when she gets back." Phoebe said, the room falling into silence. 

"There's some in the Attic; I'll go get it." Piper volunteered, and left the kitchen. She entered the attic and found the container of salt. As she lifted it up, a piece of paper floated out from under it. It was a potion list for one of Paige's lasted concoctions. Piper smiled, remembering how her sister was always trying to come out with new spells and potions. "Please let her be ok." She thought to herself. Her eyes began to water, but she quickly blinked it away. She took a deep breath in, and walked back out of the attic. As she jogged down the stairs to the second floor, she spotted a tall, slender figure leaning against the wall.

"Paige?" It was Paige, just starring off into the distance. She quickly turned around at the sound of Piper's voice. 

"How did you get here? Where have you been?" Piper questioned, hugging Paige.

"I-I-I don't know… I was going into labor when, umm…"

"Labor? As in, having a baby kind of labor?"

"I'm not sure, I don't even understand what's happening."

"You didn't orb here?"

"No…"

"And just got here…"

"I'm not sure… I just woke here."

"Piper, who are you talking to?" Phoebe asked, standing beneath the balcony.

"Phoebe, come here… fast." She came jogging up the stairs, with a pot in her hands. She tripped on the top stair, the pot going flying. "Paige!" Piper yelled, as Paige shielded her face, but to much surprise, it went straight through her and splattered on the wall behind her. The two older sisters starred in shock at Paige.

"How did that happen? Because ghosts are the only ones who tend to have the ability of things going _through_ their bodies." Phoebe asked, surprised that her sister was there in the first place.

"I'm a ghost? Oh my god, am I dead?" Paige asked.

"No, you would be transparent." Piper commented. Fear began to appear on Paige's face. She felt a tugging feeling in her stomach. She knew something was wrong, when Piper and Phoebe's face began to blur along with her surrounding. Piper's voice yelling was the last thing she heard before the darkness consumed her sight. Paige simply disappeared from their sight, as if she had blinked out.

"Did she just astral project?" Phoebe asked.

"I think… but it was a little different."

****

            Paige abruptly awoke in the same bed she was in before; she was still in her royal room. Someone was massaging her back as she could hear many others bustling around her. A woman came behind her, and placed a pillow underneath her head. She searched the room with her eyes for Natalie. A pain hit her in her stomach, and her wings fully expanded, accidentally hitting one of the attendants.

"Breathe…" Natalie voice was then heard, behind Paige. "In, out, in, out…" Paige obeyed, becoming less and less tense. "The contractions are getting closer and closer together incredibly fast." Natalie sighed, taking Paige's pulse through her wrist.

"What happened? Who are these people?" Paige asked, gesturing to all the individuals walking about the room.

"Well, welcome back. You started to hyperventilate and then just fell unconscious. Don't mind the people you see around you; they're here to help." Paige took in a deep breath, cautious not to overreact this time. The sounds around her were becoming agitating to her. She began to rub her temples as the noise in the room increased. Natalie noticed Paige's face expression.

"Paige, is there something wrong?"

"There's just… too much… noise!" Paige screamed; a vase went flying across the room into the wall.

"Ok, ok, everyone out the room. I'll call you back in when it's safer." Natalie ordered. Everyone filed out just as she ordered.

            An hour past by, and the contractions were becoming ever so close to the point that Paige would soon have to start pushing. Her powers were going out of control; objects would now go flying across the room. She just wished to be back in her room, in her bed, surrounded by her two sisters. They had a way to comfort when she needed it, something that told her that everything was fine, no matter what had happened. She wanted her family. She missed that feeling and very much wanted to have it back.


	9. Finding Her

"I have several potions prepare just in case we'll need them." Phoebe explained, as she placed some vials on the table.

"Good… I just have to finish the rest of this spell and… done." Piper said, scribbling the last words onto the paper.

"This'll work right…"

"Yeah… it should. Of course, we're short one person of the Power of Three, but I wrote it so that we didn't need her yet."

"That's good…" Phoebe started to stare off into the distance. Piper could tell that something was on her mind.

"Penny for your thoughts…"

"I was just thinking about Paige… how she's going to be after this is all over, you know. She's giving birth to a child; a child that she never wanted in the first place and…" Phoebe sighed. "I mean, are we expecting to keep the baby?"

"I don't know… it's more Paige's decision…" Piper shrugged.

"Yeah…" Silence began to envelop the room.

"Wait, we could bring Leo with us… just in case." Phoebe suggested.

"But the spell is only enough to carry us two."

"He can track us after we leave."

"Okay… Leo!" Piper yelled. "Leo!!" Leo orbed in a few moments later.

"What? What's wrong?" He asked.

"Here's the plan: We're going to read this spell that'll take us to Paige. Then we'll call for you. You'll sense us and come there. Then we'll rescue Paige with our powers and potions, and you'll bring us back." Piper explained.

"What happens if he's immune to your powers, or even the potions for that matter."

"They have to work… and that also why we have you."

"Ready?"

"Yep… let's go get our sis." Phoebe hopped off the table she was sitting on. She held Piper's hand as they recited the spell.

            The two sisters looked at each other and waved good-bye to Leo as various colored orbs surrounded them as they disappeared from the manor to wherever Paige was being held.

****

"Oh god." Paige muttered under her breath as another contraction hit her.

"Just breathe through them… there you go…" Natalie coached Paige. "It's getting pretty close for you to start pushing."

"I was thinking…" Paige began to massage her temples, "if I have this baby, Link will raise it."

"Well, a nanny probably will."

"Either way, she'll be raised here, but if I don't have her at all then none of this could happen."

"That's not possible… the baby will have to come out eventually."

"Not if I don't push…" Paige thought wishfully.

"Paige, you're not think very rationally right now; you're in labor, your hormones are all over the place."

"No, it'll work…" Paige sat that defiantly, and braced for another contraction.

"You can't not push. It could hurt the baby and it could hurt you if you wait long enough."

"I don't care…"

****

            Phoebe and Piper reappeared in a castle-like hallway; made of stone and lit by multiple torches throughout the hall. It was bare, no doors in sight and not a sound.

"Do you think it worked?" Phoebe asked, looking around the place.

"Damp, cold, and creepy castle scenery… this looks like a place to bring someone who has been kidnap." Piper commented looking about.

"What do we do now?"

"Well, you can start calling for Leo while I go search down that hall."

"Why not wait for Leo?"

"Don't worry, I'll be back." Piper said, quietly walking down the lonely hall. Phoebe sighed and started semi-whisper for Leo. Piper continued to walked down the hall till she came two the end, where she could either turn left or right. She stood there, looking between her two choices; both halls looked identical. Suddenly, she her voices heading down the hall from the right, and she jumped behind a gaudy statue.

"I swear, if that witch could just stop flying objects around the room, maybe we could help… but nooo." Two maids came into view as the continued on the path. Piper slid out from the corner, glanced down towards the two women, and tiptoed off in the direction in which they came.

****

"Geez, where are we? It took me awhile to locate you guys." Leo said as he finally orbed in.

"I don't know." Phoebe shrugged.

"Where's Piper?"

"Umm…" Phoebe glanced down the hall. "She went that way looking for Paige. She's only been gone for…" Phoebe looked down at her watch. "Ten minutes… wow, let's go." Phoebe grabbed Leo's arm and headed down the hall. They got to the same intersection that Piper was once at.

"Which way did she go?" Leo asked.

"I… don't know… she was suppose to go look and come right back."

"Great…" Leo sighed.

****

Piper had been walking down the hall for quite some time now, cautious not to be seen. She had passed by a few doors by now but not found Paige. She was coming to her fourth door and was debating whether or not to head back, until a strange feeling came over her. She slowly peered into the room, to see Paige and Natalie within. Throwing the door open, she confidently marched in and stopped ten feet from the bed and Natalie.

"Okay, tell me who you are and what you're doing to my sister and it might prolong your death." Piper said, glaring at Natalie.

"Piper, it's ok. She's a friend." Paige claimed, breathing heavily between her words.

"Paige, what's wrong with you?" Piper asked, concern filling her voice.

"She's in labor but refuses to push." Natalie explained. "She going through a lot of pain right now, I imagine.

"What?! Why?"

"She's not thinking to clearly and would rather die than help evil have another child to raise." Piper smiled at her baby sister's courage but then frowned upon the pained expression on her face. Piper knew this baby had to come out, whether Paige wanted it to or not. She signaled Natalie to go down to Paige's legs and prompt them back up.

"Paige, we need to deliver this baby."

"I don't want to."

"I know honey, but you have to. We can talk later what we can do." Piper said, helping Paige to sit up more. "For now, I just breathe with me." Piper began to inhale and exhale slowly with Paige. Two minutes later, Natalie told Paige to push. Paige's grip on Piper's hand increased as she pushed, resisting to the urge to scream. Another contraction hit, and Paige couldn't hold it anymore. She yelled out in pain, a tear rolling down her cheek. "Shhh, it's ok. You'll be ok." Piper comforted her, laying her down again. Leo and Phoebe came in fifteen minutes later; Paige was still in labor.

"It looks like one more push."

"Sorry, couldn't find the room." Phoebe explained. "Oh, she's in labor?!?"

"Yes, now come over here." Piper said.

"Just a moment… and… push." With Piper and Phoebe by her side, Paige gathered the little strength she had left, and pushed with all her might. The tiny child finally made it's way into the world. Paige dropped back in exhaustion and passed out. Natalie proceeded to clean the baby off just as Link burst into the room.

"How is she doing?" He asked, and then stopped when he realized all the regular people were replaced with Piper, Phoebe, and Leo. "What is going on here?" He demanded slowly approaching Paige.

****

A/N: Let's keep in mind that I don't know anything about babies or pregnancies or birth, so if any of this seemed farfetched, that's why.


	10. Too Late

"You stay away from her." Piper commanded, looking straight at him. His attention was diverted to the baby that sat in Natalie's arms.

"My son…" Link said, ignoring Piper. Natalie began to back up, holding the child close. She glanced down into the bundle when her face dropped. "What's wrong? Why won't you let me see my son?"

"She's not breathing…" Natalie said quietly. "She's dead."

"What?!?" Link anger rose.

"She's… dead? How is that possible? She just was born." Piper asked frantically.

"I told him… I told him that she probably wouldn't live; that she was going to be too premature." Regret filled up in Natalie as she felt the pang of guilt, the fact that she didn't do anything earlier.

"Oh, well… I guess I'll just have to try again." Link threw a green ball at Natalie, causing her to go up in flames, child in arms.

"No!" Phoebe yelled, a bolt of electricity surged through her hand and directly hit Link. He convulsed before combusting into pieces. Phoebe looked down at her hands. She had received an active power that was more useful. She looked at Piper, a look of confusion on what to do next.

"We can sort this out when we get home." Piper said pulling the spell out. Leo lifted Paige into his arms and the two sisters said the spell to return back to the manor.

****

            They took turns through the night and the next day watching Paige; Cole had even taken a shift. Paige hadn't woken up since they returned and they were beginning to worry. The wings had slowly retracted back into Paige as the day went on, and so did her fever. Piper came home early from P3 just to watch her. Dinner had been a fast-food pick-up at McDonalds on the way home. Phoebe had been working on her column, while Piper was watching late night reruns of Law and Order when Paige began to stir. She felt groggy and greatly sore. Piper and Phoebe rushed to her side.

"Paige…" Phoebe said, a smile of hope spread across her face.

"Phoebe?" Paige wasn't sure of the voice. Her mind was still cloudy.

"Yeah, and Piper."

"Hey." Piper greeted Paige and stroked her cheek with her hand. "How do you feel?"

"I uh… I'm not… I don't understand what's going on and…" Paige then look as if she came to sudden realization, "Oh no, where is she?"

"Um…" Phoebe said, looking at Piper, not knowing what to say.

"He has her, doesn't he? He took her." Paige tried to sit up but was too weak.

"Paige, calm down. He doesn't have her." Paige began to relax and with the help of Phoebe, propped herself up. It was evident that Piper and Phoebe were dreading the next inevitable question. "Where is she then?"

"Sweetie, there was… something happened after you fainted." Piper began to explain.

"Link had showed up seconds after the baby was born." Phoebe added in

"But the baby was too premature to be saved and when he realized there was nothing he could do to help her, he killed Natalie."

"Who was holding the baby…"

Silence had filled the room. They both were waiting to see how Paige was going to react. She never wanted the child in the first place but now she woke thinking first thing of the baby. Tears began rolled down her face as Piper pulled her into a hug. Paige tried not to cry but broke down within seconds of the news. Phoebe joined in on the hug, rubbing Paige's back to help calm her down. It was a while until they lied Paige back down in her bed; she was still sniffling a little. She was now exhausted physically as well emotionally. They continued to whisper words of encouragement and love until she fell asleep. They stayed by her side as she continued to sleep in the little comfort of her bed.

****

A/N: I know… it's like an end to a… story. It's been a blast fighting through the writer's block and reaching somewhat into my brain to write this. For some of those who wished for a happier ending, I'm sorry. This was the original ending for the story and I had decided to stick with it. Hence, why this was ever considered an Angst fanfic. I'd like to thank all those who reviewed diligently throughout the entire fic. Man… one weird idea turned out to be my longest story to date. THANK YOU ALL!!


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